RAW Review and Reactions
Last night's show kick with an appearance from Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, Kane, J&J Security, and the WWE World Heavyweight champion, Seth Rollins, still of course without he's title. Coming down to the ring not looking very impressed to say the least, it was first Stephanie who took control of the opening segment where she made it clear that Seth Rollins was still the WWE World Heavyweight Champion and the options of suspending and getting rid of Dean Ambrose were still weighing heavy on her mind. We then moved on to Triple H who told us all that he had given Ambrose until the start of RAW for him to bring back the championship and as time ticked on without out favourite Lunatic fringe, we saw tempers fly more and more. It didn't take too long for Roman Reigns to make an appearance and face the Authority and after the role he played during the end of the Elimination Chamber, things were not looking too good for him. I have to admit that Reigns really is growing on me. He still has a lot of improvements to make and he still has a long way to go before I feel as though he's top star, face of the WWE material, but he's getting better and better each time we see him. Last night, Reigns told us that Ambrose was not going to be giving the title back but what he does want is a rematch this time however he wants a ladder match at Money in the bank for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. The words of Reigns really did get under the skin of Rollins and we finally saw him break and he gave Ambrose the match he wanted. After that the Authority moved on to Roman Reigns, where Triple told him that if he lost he's match tonight he would loose he's place in the money in the bank match. I loved this opening. I thought everyone was strong on the mic, it was a good transition from one pay per view to another and it really did hype the rest of the show and the Money in the bank pay per view.
After the commercial break we learnt that Bad News Barrett would be Reigns opponent for the night, and if the king of the ring winner was able to defeat Reigns then he would take he's place in the money in the bank contract match in just two weeks time. I liked this booking. Don't get me wrong, I was worried for Barrett, he didn't have the best showing at the Elimination Chamber the night before and has suffered a couple of really bad losses, loosing to Roman wouldn't help him at all, but what I did like was that he was booked stronger than we have seen over the past couple of weeks. Barrett spend the early part of this match in control. There's no doubt he is the more experienced and better wrestler of the two and we saw that throughout the match last night. At the start of the match we saw him ware down Reigns, attempting to slow him down a little so the match could go at he's pace. We really saw that viscous, barbaric side to Barrett and when I was watching this match I really realised just how underrated he really is. He brought so much character to this match and as usual he stayed in role throughout, really brining he's character to the match. Despite Barrett being the stand of this match in my eyes, I can't not talk about Reigns who did a great job last night as well. He was really over with the crowd and used that to he's advantage throughout. We're still not seeing that much of a diverse move set from him but he's execution is getting better and he's starting to tell a story much better. I was pretty impressed with him throughout this match and I all round really enjoyed the match itself. I never thought these two would work as well as they did together last night. I found myself really enjoying what I was watching and in the end, as I predicted, it was Reigns who got the win but after such a strong match, I don't think Barrett has anything to worry about at all.
Sunday, at the Elimination Chamber, we saw Ryback win he's first ever singles championship in WWE picking up the Intercontinental Title in he's first ever Elimination Chamber match. As you can tell, there were a lot of "first ever's" for Ryback this past weekend. Last night we saw the Big Guy have he's first ever title defence and it was against former champion, The Miz. The booking was basic and predicable. We all knew what we were going to get but we can't complain all that much. I do think Ryback's win was a little out of the blue and I honestly wasn't expecting him to talk walk out the Victor at all. He wasn't my favourite to win and I'm sure you all know that but I was really happy for him and we have really seen him work he's back side off over the past couple of months so he defiantly deserved it. He's title defence last night was very basic. I was predicting a short match with Ryback getting most of the offence and all round attention.Before he's match he had a great little promo that I surprisingly really liked and I have to be honest I have serious amount of respect for him Last night was all about Ryback gaining momentum and getting the championship push he needed. I didn't feel as though the Miz was the right man to do the job and make him look strong but to be fair there wasn't really anyone else to step up to the mark. I'm a little worried that both the title and Ryback will struggle this month and fall behind but I'm going to try my best to stay positive and hope for the best. He's a clear hard worker and deserves this push. Hopefully the WWE have something bigger planned for him in the near future. Before last night's match could even start there was a surprise return from the Big Show who made he's way down to the ring feeding The Miz a ice KO punch, which I was not expecting at all. After knocking Miz how he turnt he's attention to Ryback and made it clear he was coming after the Intercontinental championship. I'm not going t rule this one out at all, we might be surprised with this and they could really deliver. I say, give them a chance.
Up next, we saw the man who shocked the world the night before when he defeated the United States Champion, John Cena, Kevin Owens. After beating a fifteen time world champion and one of the biggest names in the history of the WWE, Kevin Owens made a huge statement at Elimination Chamber and he wasn't done just yet. Coming back to Monday night RAW, we learnt that he would face Cena one more time in just two weeks at Money in the bank. My prediction post for this match will be up next week. Last night Owens took control of the mic, telling us that he is a man of he's word. When he came to NXT he took out Sami Zayn, he became NXT champion, and he took out John Cena, all what he said he's do he did. He delivered. He went on to speak about he's family and I found it such a clever way to carry the feud on. He spoke about he's son and he's son's love for John Cena. Owens spoke about "super Cena" and I have to admit I freaking loved this part of the show and this was by far one of my favourite promos of the year so far. Adding he's son into the promo was such a strong way to upgrade their feud. It was such a clever transition and such a strong story to go on. Nothing else to say apart from, perfect promo. However, of course the night was not going to be complete without an appearance from John Cena himself. To be honest I didn't really like the idea of Cena coming out. I felt as though they should of let Owens have he's moment last night and keep Cena off TV for the week or at least until Smackdown but I did sit back and pay attention to what he had to say and to be honest, I actually really enjoyed what he had to say. I was literally hooked to my TV hanging on every single word. I'll admit I didn't like how Cena took control of it all and stole the moment off of Owens but I just loved this segment and this was easily my favourite part of the entire night and I can honestly say that Owens VS Cena is my favourite feud around right now. Everything about this part of the show was done so so well.
After being announced as one of the six men to compete in the Money in the bank ladder match, Kofi Kingston was in one on one action next but before he could get going we go a little promo from the New Day. Getting under the skin and winding up the San-Antonio crowd and talking about their victory at Elimination Chamber. Moving on to the actual match and Kofi's opponent for the night was Dolph Ziggler who was being accompanied to the ring by Lana. The booking made sense considering their both in the Money in the bank ladder match and they both have a strong history with the pay per view. There's also the fact that these two re two of the most underutilised, diverse superstars on the roster and they always manage to work extremely well together. Last night's match saw Ziggler take early control in a very fast paced match up. The match was fairly short lived but it was a good showing from both Superstars that saw Ziggler get the win in the end. After the match, the New day attacked Dolph but we would see the Prime Time players come to he's aid. I don't know about you but I'm loving the push these guys are getting, it's more than deserved. When RAW returned from the commercial break we got a six man tag team match with the Prime time players teamed up with Dolph Ziggler to take on the New Day. The New day proved why they are the tag team champions throughout this match, working extremely well together making frequent tags and using double team to their advantage. Darren Young spent a great deal of time in the ring and being a fan of Young I was glad he was getting time, I've waited a long time for him and O'Neil to get the push an attention they deserve so it was a good night for prime time players fans. When Titus got into the match he just stole the freaking show. Man handling everything in he's way he showcased just how dominate he is and in the end was able to pin Xavier Woods to get the win.
Roman Reigns was back in action net and as announced earlier on in the night, just like he's match with Barrett, he needed to defeat Mark Henry in order to stay in the money in the bank ladder match. Just like he's previous match, Reigns struggled to get early control and it was Henry who dominated most of this match from the very start. The match however ended in count out so it was a quick, short lived match but one that allowed Roman to stay in the money in the bank ladder match. After the match Henry did take he's anger out on Reigns but it didn't really matter anyway but it was great story telling. Reigns was later told he would next have to face Bray Wyatt later on in the night.
Divas action next and Nikki Bella was set to defend her divas championship against Paige. I'm going to be honest, I hated this idea. I said before and I will say it again, I personally love Paige, she's one of my favourite divas on the roster today but she needs to be out of that title picture. There's no need for her to be chasing the title right now when there are plenty of other divas who deserve a shot at the championship. So I wasn't all that happy with the booking for the divas last night and I wasn't expecting much at all but I tried my best to get into the match despite not seeing how this match would benefit either diva. Nikki took early control of this match really proving why she is the divas champion using her strength advantage to just that. She actually pulled some stuff out the bag last night I had no idea she was capable of doing. The match could of flowed a little better and I would of liked to have seen each move transition better it was such a strong showing from Nikki. The closing moments saw the return of twin magic for Nikki to retain the title. This is the start of something very interesting.
Randy Orton was up next after being out of action for a couple of weeks he returned to action to take on Sheamus, both superstars who will be competing in the money in the bank ladder match in two weeks time. These guys have a lot of history together and have great chemistry so I was really looking forward to seeing what we going to get from these two last night. I've also made a thew comments recently on how I'd like to see these two feud over the next couple of months. On to last night and I found it difficult deciding who needed this win more, so I was paying really close attention to this one. It was nice to see Sheamus booked in a stronger match and this is defiantly the start of bigger things for the former world champion. The match was very split throughout and I found that one didn't stand out more than the other. In the end the match ended just how I wanted it to, by dq, after Sheamus hit Orton with a chair and started attacking him after. This is the start of something really strong between these two superstars and I cannot wait to see what is waiting around the corner between these two. Last night we also got a rematch between Neville and Bo Dallas. Bo or me was the stand out in this one. He told a great story and really carried on showcasing he's big character throughout. It was a nice little match that I did really enjoy and in the end it was no surprise to see Neville score another win.
And finally, main event time and Reigns last match of the night as he took on Bray Wyatt to remain in the Money in the bank ladder match in two weeks time. Just like the previous matches it was Bray who took early control with Reigns struggling to take control from the start and stay in control. This time things were a little different when the Authority made an appearance, watching the match from the top of the ramp. Bray spent a lot of the time dominating this match and I have to admit, it wasnice seeing him back main eventing where he belongs. I really did enjoy this match, it wasn't my persona favourite of the three but I did really like it and I got way more into it than I originally thought I was going to. Bray way the true stand out of this match but Reigns had a great showing throughout and all round had an amazing night, I think we all gained even more respect for him and in the end he got the final win. After the match Ambrose made an appearance and together he and Reigns cleared the ring of the Authority and once again left with the WWE World Heavyweight championship.
An all round really good show. Some amazing story development and a huge hype session for Money in the bank, I have to say Barrett VS Reigns was the match of the night for me and my favourite moment of the night had to be the segment between Owens and Cena. I'd rate the show an eight out of ten but that's what I think, let me know what you thought of last nights show by leaving a comment bellow or by tweeting me at @TezangiVictoria.
Top 20 matches of May part 1
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